Linda Thompson was romantically involved with Elvis Presley during the 1970s, ending their relationship roughly a year before the legendary musician passed away at the age of 42.

Recently, she shared insights about her time with Elvis and revealed the real reasons behind her decision to leave.

Meeting Elvis Presley

While Linda Thompson was participating in beauty pageants, Elvis Presley was becoming a global sensation. In 1970, he dropped his 12th studio album, That’s the Way It Is. At the time, he was still married to Priscilla Presley.

Two years earlier, the couple had welcomed their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. However, by 1970, their relationship had begun to crumble.

In 1972, Elvis and Priscilla officially ended their marriage. But it didn’t take long for Elvis to find someone new to shower with affection.

Not long after his split, at a private movie screening, Elvis crossed paths with Linda Thompson. Speaking at last year’s Las Vegas Elvis Festival, Linda recalled how Elvis approached her during the event.

He greeted her with: “Well, hello honey!”

“At the time, I thought he was still married, so I didn’t think much of it,” she shared, as reported by Express. “I was just thrilled to meet my idol.”

When the film started, Elvis made his way over to sit beside her. Although Linda initially believed he was still married, it didn’t take long for her to realize that wasn’t true.

Move to Graceland

“He started pulling the old yawn, put the hand around the seat,” Linda recalled.

“He said, ‘I’ve been separated since the end of the year. We’re getting a divorce. She’s met somebody else and she’s moved on’. I said, ‘Oh, well I’m sorry to hear that but you should have married a southern girl’. And he never forgot that.”

Not long after that conversation, Linda Thompson and Elvis Presley began a romantic relationship. Over the next four years, Linda would experience a whirlwind of emotions before eventually deciding to part ways with him.

“I was always a fan, but I didn’t think he would transcend time and space and become the iconic, almost religion he is now,” Linda shared with Closer.

 

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Linda eventually moved into Graceland, Elvis’s legendary estate. However, it wasn’t long before she witnessed firsthand the troubling path Elvis was heading down, marked by what she described as “self-destructive” behaviors.

In 1973, during their first year together, Linda had the chance to watch Elvis make history. After performing two benefit concerts to support a Cancer Fund, his TV special Aloha from Hawaii became the first solo artist concert to be broadcast to audiences all over the world.

Elvis Presley – medication

In the final years of their relationship, Linda witnessed firsthand how Elvis’s health deteriorated rapidly. The iconic rockstar was struggling, relying on sleeping pills, which he sometimes combined with “other things,” as Linda revealed.

She would stay by his side, keeping watch until he drifted off to sleep, often waking up multiple times throughout the night just to ensure he was still breathing.

“It was exhausting, I have to admit,” Linda shared. “I was a young girl but it was still exhausting when you’re not sleeping. And also just ‘exhausting because this is a person that I loved more than my own life and watching him slowly self-destruct and not being able to do anything about it …”

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